New York, NY—At 3:25 p.m. EST, three Tibetan youth activists chained themselves to the vehicular exits and entrances of the United Nations (UN) headquarters gates on First Avenue, demanding action after the self-immolation of Tibetan independence activist Lobga Rangzen. One week after his death, the UN has yet to take any meaningful action to honor Lobga’s life and address human rights violations in Tibet. These activists have therefore taken action to pressure UN leaders to address an issue they are trying to sweep under the rug.
The young protestors blocked the UN vehicular exits and entrances while holding signs reading “Volker Türk break your silence on Tibet,” and “Lobga Rangzen Lives, Free Tibet.” The activists, ranging in age from 19 to 28, were all Students for a Free Tibet activists or friends of Lobga; some are Tibetans born in the United States and others were born inside occupied Tibet. As of 4:05 p.m., the activists are still chained to UN entrance and police have not yet arrived on scene. All official UN vehicles are unable to gain access to the main headquarters building and UN security is on site. Police have been called to the site.
As the chained activists continued to block traffic into and out of the UN, Tibetan community members began arriving at the scene for the daily protest since his self-immolation. Waving the Tibetan national flag and chanting “Free Tibet,” the protesters came to support the youth activists and honor Lobga’s life. While UN diplomats inside attempt to conduct “business as usual,” Tibetan activists and protesters are outside demanding that they end their silence on Tibet and censure Beijing’s genocidal new “Ethnic Unity” law.
Tenzin Kunchok, Students for a Free Tibet Activist and friend of Lobga Rangzen, said: “My generation is completely done waiting for international bodies to find a backbone. If Volker Türk is too compromised to speak the truth, then we will be the ones to scream it. We refuse to let the UN use the vocabulary of the colonizer to keep its hands clean. The silence ends with us.”
Tenzin Myinlek, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet, said: “Lobga Rangzen’s sacrifice was a direct warning against China’s newly enacted “Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress Law,” a legislative death sentence, aiming for the extinction of the Tibetan people. We demand the UN and Volker Türk break their silence on Tibet. For young Tibetans around the world, this is the ultimate call to action. In this critical moment, the UN has failed Tibetans once again. We are taking matters into our own hands as Lobga Rangzen’s spirit lives on in every single one of us.”